Nightmare's Preperations

Nightmare Moon had plans for Equestria, starting with Celestia; the thought of the mare that was her literal sister on her knees sucking Nightmare’s cock was an enticing image in Nightmare’s mind. Nightmare could hear the now confined consciousness of Luna screaming about how wrong that all was. Fantasies of making Celestia her erotic plaything aside, Nightmare still needed a proper military , and Luna just so happened to lay the groundwork for that. The Night Pegasi that were granted Luna’s blessing centuries ago, effectively turning those clans into an unofficial 4th pony tribe, was a good start towards a proper military . But she needed to build up her forces away from their castle within the Everfree Forest.

The city of Canterlot was an impressive establishment, seeing as the whole city was practically carved out of the mountainside of which it was being built upon, but the castle that would act as the residence and command center of the nation’s rulers was still not complete enough to be used as a residence just yet, the security measures were still being put in place, an act that severely slowed down development at times. With all that said, Nightmare would have a problematic time establishing the foundations of her overthrow in the place without drawing unwanted attention at a very inconvenient time. So instead, she chose the town and residence of a slightly subversive but mostly harmless noble as the beginnings of her staging for takeover.

The figure in question was known as Duke Gold Leaf, the line of nobles that Canterlot nobility would come to be known for wasn’t quite established yet, Gold Leaf was from a line of Unicorns that supported the Unicorns that raised the sun and moon before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came along and showed such things could be accomplished by a single pony. Regardless, his inclinations and proclivities would prove problematic in future generations if not properly dealt with. Gold Leaf was of the opinion that stallions are superior to mares, despite the fact Equestria was ruled over by a pair of sisters, and used the fact that there were more stallions in high positions of the sociopolitical structure as his justification. Correlation bias is more like it. He also was rumored to have his residence filled with maids that were mares he took some sort of interest in and put in a variety of demeaning positions in and out of work to exercise his power over them. Nightmare decided this one would be more than worthy of experimenting on, along with all his property and possessions.

Gold Leaf was the duke who ruled over one of Equestria’s larger gold mines; his manor was just a 5-minute flight from the mining grounds. His holding would serve her well, even if he required a bit of…encouragement. Nightmare, still in the guise of Luna, was approaching the edge of Gold Leaf’s territory, and for the first time in a long while, the sight before her actually had her agreeing with Luna. This territory was in rough shape, and accommodations for the ponies working the land were in a nearly decrepit state and clearly showed signs of having the minimal mandated expenses for them utilized. Juxtaposing it all, on the hill overlooking the work town and the mine, was Gold Leaf’s manor; almost the entire hill was encircled by clearly imported marble bricks with gold leafing in intricate designs, and the gates were high-quality steel gilded with gold in intricate designs, and the manor itself seemed to have been built of fire marble with gold leafing accenting the natural design of the stone.

Nightmare, as Princess Luna, threw open the gates rather forcefully with her magic; if gates or their art got damaged in the act, she didn’t care; the little show she decided on was a bit more forceful than initially planned, which would ironically turn out better for her later on. As she approached the doors, Nightmare noticed they were mahogany and covered once more in gold leafing, the hinges and handle for the door were also plated in gold to the point you couldn’t see the metal they covered. Before she could these doors open, they opened to reveal a pinkish-green pegasus mare in a maid outfit that looked far more degrading than the professional types seen around Canterlot, “Greetings, your eminence,” said the mare nervously, “to what do we owe this pleasure?”

“I am here to see the master of the estate,” said Nightmare in Luna’s voice, with a stern tone that had a noticeably displeased edge to it, “it seems he has been falling behind in what is required of him, his last report to Canterlot was almost three months past due, we do not like when regular reports are so poorly delayed. And the fact I am here and am seeing failings of what is required of him on cursory glance does not bode well; we do hope he has an explanation that can prove satisfactory.”

The mare noticeably gulped audibly as she let the night ruler in while saying, “His lordship says repeat reports are a waste of time and resources, and refuses to listen to the counsel of those he calls his assistants and aides.”

“It would seem his appointment to such a notable position was premature,” said the midnight alicorn, “let him and the staff know of my presence here, and if he refuses to see us, then you all are under our royal decree to drag him before us, but before that happens, be sure to gently remind him of the consequences of shirking his duties as a lord and host.”

The mare nodded vigorously and disappeared behind a hidden doorway in the wall to the right, a powder green unicorn practically appeared out of thin air by the stairs to the alicorn’s left before seeming to fly up them and out of sight, likely to Gold Leaf’s private office. Nightmare smirked internally at Luna, the trapped mare not giving her tormentor the satisfaction of any words, just a coldly annoyed stare.

Nightmare looked around; the walls were gaudy and garnished, egg white wallpaper with gold leaf all about them; stone flooring that was clearly imported from outside the area, possibly even from outside of Equestria itself, judging by the fact it was marble; the stairs seemed to be some sort of imported wood, they had a tropical air about them, clearly not what you would get from Equestria proper and its temperate climates, and the vibrant red with gold accents on the steps and railing didn’t help much; the supports for the railing seemed to be some kind of steel with gold plating, both in regards to the stairs and upper level; the visible doors seemed to be crafted of mahogany as well, with golden handles that had silver or platinum accents done in mockeries of artistic flourishments. Luna, and by extension Nightmare, knew art and all of this was something that screamed it was not art but tried to imitate it; it was all decided that an uninformed showboat that believed they knew art when they barely became aware of it. The ceiling was covered in a fresco that was made to imitate the sun, and done entirely in gold paint and precious jewels, any one of the gems would be enough to pay the staff in the manor alone a reasonable wage for several months, at least.

In short, things were worse than anticipated, which meant Nightmare would be changing her punishment plans to something she decided to be more fitting, and far more degrading to the stallion that called this place their own. After being kept waiting for over a half-hour, Nightmare finally saw the pony in question. She narrowed her eyes, squared her shoulders, and took a more imperious stance than she had a moment prior. Gold Leaf was a navy blue unicorn with a golden mane and tail, he even sported a golden mustache; he was in a white robe adorned in gold leaf with intricate and very flashy, designs; as he trotted over, it could be seen he had both golden slippers and a golden monocle on, you could still make out his mark, also in gold, as an abacus with clearly golden beads next to a sheet of cloth of some kind. “So sorry, your grace, I was under the impression some pony was using your good name to their way in, until your little message about duties and responsibility was said.”

“So, why did it take you over half of an hour to come and greet your guest,” Nightmare inquired icily in Luna’s voice, “your domain and behaviors are not painting a picture we wish to continue. Thankfully, your vassals seem to be of proper mannerism, at a glance anyway.”

“Well, I had to make myself presentable, and I doubt your ladyship would care to see me in…”

“At most,” said Nightmare, cutting off the stallion, “it should have taken you 5 minutes to get ready, and another 10 minutes maximum to get here from wherever the dresser was. Even if We were to be lenient with your time allotted as host, that is still 15 minutes of inexcusable tardiness. Being fashionably late is only mildly acceptable when you are a guest, not the master of the manor. It would seem YOU have failed in all that is expected of you, especially to the minimal extent mandated by your station. We will be taking control of your holdings, and you will be suitably punished for your transgressions.”

“Now, just wait a moment,” said Gold Leaf as he saw the alicorn’s magic flare to life upon her horn, “I was…what the!!!!!!!??????” He found himself completely naked, his stallionhood on full display, it seemed he was well-endowed as a stallion, probably another reason for his pointless sense of superiority. He then began to cry in agony as his body began to shift and change, a few moments later a well-endowed mare with Gold Leaf’s colors and mark was where the stallion once was, “What happ…” a clearly feminine voice came from the mare, “you turned me into a mare? This is a punishment I shall...why is your horn glowing again?” Suddenly the mare’s eyes glowed white as she went silent, her mane and tail shifted from golden yellow to silvery white. When that was done the next words from the mare’s mouth were, “How can I be of service, your eminence?”

“This is only the beginning of your punishment for the transgressions of your past life,” said Nightmare, suddenly all the maids of the manor were around her and the transformed stallion in a flash, and they were all naked. Nightmare made her horn glow again and all the mares around her had their eyes glowing white for a moment. When the glow died down, Nightmare said, “You understand your new roles now?”

“Yes,” said all the mares in unison.

“Good,” said Nightmare, “now, bring me all the maid attire of this place, it’s time to properly adjust it. As for you,” she turned her attention to the mare that was formerly Gold Leaf, “Silver Sheet, when all the adjustments have been made and you have your new attire, you are to go over all documentation with a fine-tooth comb and mark all the problematic purchases, shipments, imports, and so on, be extra mindful of the reports with some connection to foreign markets.” The mares all bowed and began to get to work. While she waited, Nightmare flared her magic again and turned the interior design into something more fitting to her tastes, which meant all the sun imagery was changed to a moon aesthetic, all the gold was transformed into silver and platinum, and all the white was changed to midnight blues and purples with a few touches of black.

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Eleven minutes later, the mares that left to get all the made outfits returned and dumped them on the floor before Nightmare, Gold Leaf’s robes were suspiciously in the pile as well but the staff didn’t seem to notice or care for that point. Nightmare flared her magic again and all the attire before her transformed into skimpy, yet somehow dignified, maid outfits adorned with crescent moons. She then floated one of the outfits that was formerly one of Gold Leaf’s gaudy robes over to “Silver Sheet” and said, “Here is your outfit, always wear it when on duty. With that, she used her magic to put the outfits on the rest of the maids, “Now then, ladies, take all this and make sure to wash it all properly before returning the outfits to their assigned rooms. Now then, who is the Head Maid?”

“His lordship never assigned that position to anypony,” said a dark green earth pony mare with river blue mane and tail.

“What is your name,” Nightmare inquired.

“Irrigation Trail, ma’am,” said the green earth pony mare, “my family was one of the farms that supplied produce to the area but they’ve been in a rough patch the past few years because of the prior lord’s…habits.”

“Very good, I’ll address the farms and housing before the day is through,” said Nightmare, “in the meantime, you will play the role of Head Maid until a more suitable candidate is identified. While that’s all happening, ladies, We want a full inventory of everything in this manor, from the smallest crumb of food to the largest piece of furniture and beyond. You are to break things into 3 categories, Necessary, Useful, and Pointless, and explain why everything on the list is on which list. Once we consolidate a definitive list of each, we will see about getting everything squared away regarding the requirements of this manor and the residents of this territory.

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Seven hours, that was 2 hours more than Nightmare had estimated, to get everything squared away for the manor, the town, and surrounding farms. After all that, she dropped her Luna guise, along with giving the order that nopony outside the manor is to speak of this, ever, until the proper time. Nightmare then brought Silver Sheet into the master bedroom, which she claimed herself and made some alterations to with her magic, and then began fucking the mare that was formerly a stallion, said mare just cried out erotically.

Nightmare had confirmed a few things, the Erotica Seed had a noticeable effect on the effectiveness of transforming others, but the best results were with those of weak mind and/or will; stronger minds could hold back the mental changes and even somewhat resist the physical changes. Gold Leaf was a weak-minded fool; most of the maids had stronger minds than Gold Leaf, probably one of the reasons he made them a maid at the manor and tried to break them mentally. That worked in Nightmare’s favor, amusingly enough, but after making sure to embed them with loyalty to her, Nightmare went about empowering her servants and followers; it would make them more of a to be reckoned with in the future.